Soaring of poppy prices in the International markets resulted in the increase of tariffs by Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) from $ 2, 850 in the past week to $ 3,680 effective from April 16th, a notice said.

CBEC - Central Board of Excise and Customs

This greatly influenced domestic prices and they are expected to be above Rs.275 per Kg adding an import duty of Rs.15 per Kg. Production levels have decreased in major producing countries too which might further increase the price to Rs.300-350 per kg.

Trade experts mentioned that India’s requirement of poppy seeds is around 45,000 tonnes whereas production is hardly about 4,000-5,000 tonnes. Hence, imports have become a must! Even high production countries like Turkey and China had low production this time, increasing the gap between supply and demand more.

Reduction in growth area for poppy seeds by 50% by Narcotic Control Board is one of the major reasons for less production in India.